Thursday, December 16, 2010

NISSAN Juke (2011)

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NISSAN
Juke (2011)
Nissan Juke is set to change the urban landscape... for the third time. Following in the wheeltracks of the Murano large crossover and then the successful Qashqai - the car that three years ago introduced the concept of a crossover as an alternative to the traditional C-segment hatchback - comes its younger brother, the Nissan Juke.

Designed to bring a breath of fresh air to the B-segment, Nissan Juke is a distinctive combination of SUV toughness and sporting style. Conceived to inject some masculinity and dynamism into the small car market, Nissan Juke combines a number of seeming contradictions beneath its highly individual lines.

"It takes the best elements of an SUV and sports car and combines them," says Pierre Loing, Vice President, Product Planning, Nissan Europe. "It's roomy yet compact, robust yet dynamic and practical yet playful. These are qualities that seem to contradict each other, yet come together in Nissan Juke to create something that's genuinely unique."

Nissan Juke was created at Nissan Design Europe (NDE) in the heart of London, and refined at Nissan's Design Centre (NDC) in Japan. Principle engineering took place in Japan with significant European input and Juke will be built in Nissan's factory in Sunderland in the north-east of England.

"The design shows real optimism. By combining design elements from two genres to create a small, but striking Crossover that displays a genuine confidence and style. And those are qualities we also expect to find in a Nissan Juke customer," said Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President for Design and Chief Creative Officer

From a design standpoint, the lower portion of Nissan Juke is pure SUV, with chunky wheels, wide tyres, extended ground clearance and a robust stance. But the top portion is unadulterated sports car, with a high waistline, slim visor-like side glass graphics and a coupé-style falling roofline. The coupé effect is further underlined by the rear doors which have their handles hidden in the frame of the door.

Inside, the sports car theme continues with a driver-focused cabin dominated by a centre console design inspired by a motorcycle fuel tank. Finished in a distinctive high gloss colour, the 'bike' console adds a sense of fun to the car. Practicality is assured by the rear-opening hatch and versatile luggage area with hidden storage opportunities.

Based on the Renault Nissan Alliance B platform, Nissan Juke has a 2530mm wheelbase. On front-wheel drive versions, suspension is by MacPherson struts at the front with a torsion beam at the rear while four-wheel drive models have a multi-link rear suspension modelled on the system found on Qashqai.

The All-Mode 4x4-i is a new development of Nissan's respected electronic all-wheel drive system and now features torque vectoring technology to enhance agility and reduce understeer when cornering.